Inkstand

Robert Hennell I, David Hennell, London, England

1798-1799

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Trophy plate of solid light blue jasper with applied white jasper relief decoration, with a central vignette of the Aurora in her Chariot surrounded by scrolled ribbon and vine banding, the border with floral festoons terminating at ram's heads, trophies and small figural cameos with classical subjects, with a band of florets around the rim.
Heavy, bulbous vase with wide mouth made of beige stoneware and covered with a thick black glaze over brown and with a semi-transparent gray glaze over the shoulder and running down the sides through which appear flecks of goldish brown and tan, the glaze flecked throughout with bits of clay, the foot left glaze free.
Heavy rectangular inkwell of cast iron resting on a total of ten block feet, the base in the form of a Gothic architectural structure comprised on each long side of a colonnade of three ogee arches and on each short side of two ogee arches with blind Gothic trefoils, crockets, and leafy finials with small battlements in between, each corner a kind of shield with leafy motifs, the inkwell proper with two openings for sand and ink (the glass inserts now missing) with covers decorated with organic motifs and stylized leaf finials, in the middle a central well with tapered and fluted body and leafy lip and foot (the cover is missing).
Hollow, flattened, round stoneware vessel, or vase, with a small hole in the center, the underside covered with an opaque cream-colored glaze punctuated by glassy drips and black speckles, the upper side is covered with a spotty, mottled, lavender glaze highlighted by splashes of green and gray.